Moving On
by PixieGirl13
Summary: Sequel to A Bit of Hope.Jak and Daxter are finally back together.But as the two try to get back at the Baron,a Human girl tries to desperately tag along on every mission they take.And Merlander gets captured by the Marauders.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sequels. Love them. I don't think this thing will end up being as short as I thought it would be, because my brain is suffering from plot morphing. It is changing constantly, so I can take this fic in many directions. But the OCs from the other fic will be in here as much as the ones from the game. So…get ready for hard core action, my attempt at romance, humor, and lots of explosives that I'm sure will make Roxie happy! Enjoy the first chapter and don't forget to review! Oh, and the beginning of this fic is a dream.

Disclaimer: Here we go again! I don't own anything from Jak 2 or 3. Naughty Dog does, so don't sue me. Thank you!

**Moving On**

Author: Pixiegirl13

Chapter 1 Uncontrollable Beast

_The ring of the school bell made all the teens standing outside of the building look up with dread. The weekend had gone by too quickly for all of them. That one bell was like loosing all their freedom they had gained over those two simple days. They blown off homework till the last second and then cursing they didn't have enough time to do it when they started it. Luckily, most of the kids got their homework done just in time or planned to do it in haste in homeroom, study hall, or in boring old History class with the monotone teacher._

_One of girls in the crowd gathered up her notepad and backpack in a rush to get to her homeroom quick enough. A few people bumped into her without a simple apology and she was forced to squeak out a small, "Excuse me."_

_The girl looked like a scared lost little kitten in a big city as she headed down the hall with her books clutched tightly to her chest as if someone was going to take them from her. Her deep brown eyes darted around as she made it to her locker and got ready for her first period class._

_Homeroom went by quickly and she was onto her first class of the day…history, of course. She thought that her teacher was extremely boring and had no skills at teaching the students at all, but that thought would have never escaped her lips even if her life depended on it._

"Darn!"_ she thought as she realized she had let a kid borrow her only pencil in homeroom. She hadn't asked for it back, so now she had none._

"_Excuse me," she asked a band kid sitting next to her, as she was still fishing around in her purse in a desperate attempt to find a writing utensil, "May I borrow one of your pencils?"_

_Her only answer was a low growl. Amber's eyes widened in pure terror as she slowly turned her head to the side. Her heart started to beat loudly against her chest as she saw that it was a Metal Head instead of the band kid who she was asking a pencil out of. Her breaths began to get shorter as she saw that the rest of the kids in the class were Metal Heads as well now._

"_No," she whispered to herself while getting up from the seat. "This can't be happening!" she screamed at the Metal Heads. The creatures growled some more as they slowly backed her into a corner. Saliva was dripping down their razor sharp fangs as they licked their lips._

"_You can't defeat us," they all said at the same time with creepy emotionless voices that all sounded the same. "You're weak and pathetic. You have never and never will have control over anything. You're a pushover and a do-gooder that will never make it anywhere in life. Death is your soon and only future."_

_Suddenly they all lunged for her at the same time. She screamed at the top of her lungs as fear gripped her like it was an icy claw. Then there was darkness._

Tuya gasped as she woke up from her night mare. She sat up in bed only to get whacked on the head by the top bunk with a loud _thump!_ She winced while rubbing her sore head. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself while repeating in her head that it was only a dream.

"Problems?" Torn asked her from where he stood at his table full of maps of Haven City. His blue eyes held much concern for the girl.

"Fine," Tuya said in rough Elfish. "Dream," the Human girl said to him while going back to bed. Torn opened his mouth to say something to her. He shut it when he saw Tuya's pet Muse, Mozart, crawl up beside her to comfort her himself. She would be fine.

- Daxter -

"Look out, Jak!" Daxter yelled as he tightened his grip on the Elf's shoulder. Jak smiled slyly up to his friend as he slid down the watery garbage shoot. They went airborne and Jak laughed out loud when Daxter screamed out of fright like he had always done. Jak landed in a crouch on one box and then stood up tall.

"Wow!" Daxter said while looking his Elf friend up and down for the first time. "You grew…a lot!" He couldn't keep his trademark goofy smile off his face.

"Hey, it's been two years, Dax," Jak said with a wide smile of just being able to talk for the first time in his life. "What do you expect? I'm sure you grew…a little," he said with a sheepish smile at the glare he got from his fuzzy friend. Truth be told, Daxter would always be that height for the rest of his life. He would have to get used to being an Osttel.

Daxter got over it quickly and said with a shrug, "I think I grew an inch or so, but you never know. I haven't measured myself in two years. But what I really need to do is get my hands on some pants." The two exchanged smiles.

"So where is this person you were talking about, Dax?" Jak suddenly asked him with a hint of confusion in his voice. "Did she help you rescue me?"

As if on cue, Roxie came screaming down the slippery garbage shoot with a whoop of joy. Daxter opened his mouth to shout a warning as Jak turned to see who was coming towards them to get out of the way and hide. They were both too late.

Roxie flew right into Jak and forced all three of them into the shallow water with a loud grunt. A huge splash sounded in the chamber as they all landed in the ice cold water. Jak felt a foot slam into his stomach and it knocked all the air out of him as he tried his best to swim to the surface.

Daxter broke the surface with a gasp. He spotted Roxie hanging onto the box Jak had been standing on. She clutched the thing like it was her only lifeline as she beamed at him. Jak then broke the surface and started to cough uncontrollably to get some air back into his system. He glared at Roxie for her kicking him in the stomach.

"You must be Jak!" she said cheerfully.

Jak coughed before asking Daxter, "Who's she?"

"Well…um…she's Roxie!" Daxter said with pretend excitement. "She's the one who helped me rescue you. Surprise!" Jak just shook his head at Daxter while pulling himself out of the water. The orange fuzz ball hadn't changed a bit. He still went after the pretty girls. The Elf finally couldn't hold back his smile at the animal's actions.

"Let's get out here, Dax," Roxie said with her teeth chattering. "I…I'm c…cold!"

"She's the smart one of the group," Daxter whispered to Jak as he shook himself off like a dog would. Roxie glared at him while Jak snickered. The two seemed to know each other well. Maybe Roxie knew the city just as well. Jak wanted to find a place or group where he could fight the Baron. There had to be one out there, and Roxie had bound to know about one. And when he did find one…he would make Baron Praxis pay!

- Tuya -

Tuya slowly walked down the streets of the Slums with Kor beside her. She had left Mozart at home with Torn. (Poor Torn.) The old Elf was trying to give her a language lesson, but the Human girl was realizing that she was getting too much distracted by the little kid Elf running around her legs in an attempt to pull her attention more to him. Kid was what everyone called him because he was mute. But that didn't stop him from trying to communicate with her.

"Are you listening, Human girl?" Kor asked her suddenly with sharpness to his voice. The old man never called her Tuya or Amber. It was just Human girl. It was clear that he didn't like Humans all too well, or maybe it was just her. She was beginning to not care.

"I have name," she told him suddenly. "Tuya. Say it. Tu and ya." The Kid gave a silent chuckle that put a smile to Tuya's lips. He was so cute! And those innocent blue eyes would someday make a lucky girl very happy.

Suddenly, something or someone caught Kor's attention. It was a young Elf of with longish blonde hair and blue eyes that were hard and focused. Tuya raised an eyebrow when she saw Daxter perched on one of the Elf's wide shoulders. She was even more surprised when she saw that Roxie was following close behind the two.

Before Kor could say anything to the boy Elf, Daxter had spotted Tuya and waved with a huge smile on his face. He then yelled over to her, "Tuya, baby! How have you been in the big Haven City?" The blonde Elf looked over to her with surprise then looked to Daxter with astonishment. How did Daxter get to know all these hot looking girls over such a short period of time?

Tuya giggled while blushing a little from getting this much attention that she wasn't used to getting. Kor gave her a glare and she shut up right away. She kicked herself mentally for being so shy again. Being in Haven City was for her to get a new life. Being shy was part of her old one back on Earth. She didn't want to retrogress back to her previous ways again.

"Who's this?" Daxter asked Tuya as the two groups walked up to each other. The creature pointed to Kor and the Kid with a confused look on his face. He hadn't met them before.

"My name is Kor," the old Elf said with a small nod to Jak. Tuya gave a smirk as she saw him put on a fake warm smile for the new Elf. For some reason the man was interested mostly in Jak. She wondered why.

"Name's Daxter. This is Jak. Oh, and that's Roxie," Daxter said as he pointed to each person as he said their name. "We just busted Jak, here, out of prison. Pretty sweet, ey?" This got a smile from the Kid.

Before anyone could say anything else, a Krimson Guard cruiser flew by over their heads and stopped a few yards away from them. The Kid hid behind Tuya's little legs in some attempt to fool the few KG's walking over to them. This wouldn't end well.

"Halt!" the lead Krimson Guard said roughly to the group. "You are all under arrest for suspicion of harboring Underground fugitives. Surrender and die!"

The group just stared in shock for a few seconds. Daxter was the only one to say anything. He jumped off Jak's shoulder and walked up to the Krimson Guard's feet and asked with confusion, "Don't you mean surrender OR die?"

"Not in this city," Kor said. He turned to Jak and said, "Jak, please help us. If you do, I can tell you about a place where you can fight the Baron."

Daxter looked up to Jak with concern. The teen had just gotten out of prison. Was he fit enough to take down a whole squad of Krimson Guards already? He then spotted Roxie behind him and smiled. The girl looked all too ready to blow up some KG butt. They would be okay.

Krimson Guards started to run over to the group with their laser guns ready. Jak let out a battle yell as he smashed his fist into a Guard's face. He heard the cracking of bone as the Elf cried out in extreme pain. Jak then rotated his body on the ball of his left foot and struck out with the other. His right heel slammed into the guy's chest and knocked him unconscious to the ground.

As Jak took out other Krimson Guards, Roxie had already thrown three dice that had timers on them. She pulled Jak back and yelled to him, "Brace yourself!" Jak's eyes went wide in surprise as she turned green and made a green eco shield just in time to the huge explosion to protect the group. "AWESOME!" she yelled in pure delight as they watched Krimson Guards fly around like rag dolls.

Both were smiling big as she dropped the shield to see what damage she had done. She had only killed two or three (to her disappointment). The other Krimson Guards were getting up with groans. Jak barred his teeth as he body slammed an Elf into a wall. Then that thing in him snapped again.

"Whoa! Get back!" Daxter said to Roxie while tugging on her boot. He had seen Jak like that only an hour ago. The Elf had been about to kill him! But of course he had stopped at the last second. Daxter had never wanted to see his friend like that again, but maybe this was a good time to bring that inner beast out.

Everyone stared in either complete horror or shock as they saw Jak transform into something. His skin turned into a very light purple as horns grew out of his forehead. Pools of black abyss were now his eyes and razor sharp claws came out of his hands. Dark eco lightning bolts flashed around his body as he narrowed his eyes at the oncoming Krimson Guards.

Jak was like a whirlwind of terror as he punched and kicked any living being that came at him. Every time Jak hit someone purple lightning was produced from his body and hurt whoever was around him. When every last Krimson Guard was down and dead the poor teen finally was able to calm down whatever had been leashed inside him and come back to his normal self.

Slowly the color came back to Jak's face and the horns came back into his head. The claws seemed to disappear till finally his transformation was done and those black, empty eyes went back to being their normal blue color.

"That was cool," Daxter said with a sly smile. "Do it again." Roxie nodded her head over dramatically to agree with her friend. She smiled widely with happiness. So far the girl was keeping quiet. She knew that Jak and Daxter were best friends and she wanted them to talk more than she did.

"Daxter," Jak said slowly to his furry friend with worry and pain on his face. "The Baron did something to me. I…I can't control it!"

"You okay, Jak?" Daxter asked him with some seriousness in his voice this time. He was a bit concerned for him. Tuya stared at Jak with astonishment on her face. What did the Baron do to him? He was a complete nightmare when in that dark mode!

"That was very brave of you," Kor said to Jak. "You did a very good thing, here. You see, I was told to protect this kid." As he said this he pointed to the cute Kid.

"Him?" Daxter asked no one in particular. "He looks kind of scruffy," when he said this he went to poke the Kid and smiled when he backed away. He gave Tuya a sheepish smile when she glared at him to stop.

It was at this time that Roxie noticed the Kid. "He looks oddly familiar," she said while bending down to his height. "I know you," she said to him with confusion in her voice, "But from where?"

_Don't know_, she heard his voice echo in her head as she used her Mind Speaking. _I've never seen you, lady._ He then shrugged his shoulders as if Mind Speaking was an everyday thing in his life, and she finally gave up. Roxie stood up with concern on her face as she walked away in a perplexed mess. She could swear that she knew him!

"If you would like to fight the Baron, you should join the Underground," Kor was saying to Jak. "Tuya can show you where the hideout is. Ask for Torn."

Tuya looked Kor's way when she heard her name being said. She frowned when she finally got what he had said. She hated to be dumped all the time by Kor. The old man didn't like her too much. She then gave a sigh of defeat and walked in front of the group and said in Elfish behind her shoulder, "Follow."

- Merlander -

**HELP WANTED**

It was the only place in Spargus that needed help. The poor teen had been searching all day for a job. No one would even give him a chance till he could prove himself. And he couldn't prove himself till he had some money to either rent or buy his own vehicle. He could always go to Kleiver, but that guy hated him because of his mom. Yeah, he would rather shoot himself then do a mission for him.

"Oh well," Merlander said with a sigh. "It will only be for a while." He stepped into the dark bar and ran his hand through his spiky, blonde hair as every Elf in the room looked up from whatever they were doing to stare at the teen walking in. There was silence in the tavern for a few seconds. They decided to let the kid go and went back to drinking and gambling.

Merlander narrowed his violet eyes and walked confidently to the bar stools in the back of the room. Back in Haven City he had been in the Hip Hog so many times. This place was ten times worse! Everything was dark and threatening. Smoke filled most of the small room, and the air was hot and ominous. Merlander hated it.

The teen sat down next to a hooded figure that crouched over his glass of beer. Merlander ignored the man and right away said quietly to the heavy set bartender, "I want the job."

This caught the attention of every Elf in ear shot of the young one. The bartender looked at him and chuckled. Only the hooded Elf next to him didn't laugh at Merlander. He only stared ahead from the darkness of his hood.

"No," was the bartender's only answer.

Merlander was determined and stubborn. "Why not?" he asked with a hint of anger in his voice. "I'll even do the jobs you hate if I have to. All I want is money or a vehicle. I'll be gone in less than a week."

"It's not worth it, boy," the bartender said with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Amusing, am I?" Merlander asked him with a disgusted tone to his voice. An idea came to him and a sly smile played on the corners of his lips. "I'll make a deal with you, then," he said while relaxing a bit. "I work for you till I get my own vehicle. After that, I'll still work for you by refreshing your Metal Head stock in here. It seems like the people doing it for you are slacking a bit."

The bartender looked at him with wonder in his eyes. The kid really wanted this job. He thought about it while looking around his bar. Every other bar had big Metal Head trophies on every wall possible in their bars. He had crappy looking ones ever sense his lead Elf who did the job died a year ago. Maybe this kid could do it.

"Give him the job," the hooded man next to Merlander suddenly said. Merlander and the bartender looked at him with some surprise. The Elf got up and put some money on the table. When he stood up he was taller than Merlander and he seemed to loom over the teen. There was a pause as Merlander and the mysterious man made eye contact. He had violet eyes just like him!

The man then left and Merlander watched him go with stunned silence. The man looked almost just like him! A thought came to the teen's head, but he quickly shook it out. He looked back to the bartender and asked with a smile, "Well?"

The bartender thought some more about it. He guessed it wouldn't kill him. "Fine," he said with a sigh of defeat. "You're new job for now is," he paused in the middle of his sentence to take out a bucket and mop and shove them into Merlander's hands, "Mopping! Get started. This place closes at one in the morning. Make this floor sparkle by then."

Merlander turned around with the equipment in his hands and a look of abhorrence on his face at the sight before him. It looked like the floor hadn't been cleaned in years! It was black with millions of stains scattered around. One man spotted his mop and smiled wickedly as he spilled some of his beer on the floor on purpose.

"Yay," Merlander muttered sarcastically.

- 8 or 9 hours later -

"Done," Merlander said with a sigh of relief. He set the mop down and collapsed onto a dirty seat as the weight of the day finally came to him. He could have gone to sleep right there if he wasn't an insomniac. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead to get away the small persistent headache that had formed.

"Tiered?" someone asked from right above Merlander. The teen gave a small gasp of surprise as his eyes flashed open to see Sig standing over him with a smile on his face.

"No," Merlander answered him while getting up. "I just got done with eight hours of mopping. I'm just a bit worn out."

"Boy, I've been looking for you for hours!" Sig said with a chuckle. "I thought you would get a job for Kleiver, but when I asked him he said no and then wanted to find you. I'm guessing you two never liked each other when you used to live here."

"It was my mom," Merlander said with a sigh. He shook his head and said, "She dated him for a month, I think. I'm not sure about it anymore, and I know, disgusting. But she dumped him and he got mad. He decided to take his frustration for that woman out on me of course by playing jokes on me. When he noticed that my mom didn't really care that he was torturing me, he still didn't stop. I guess it became his favorite past time." Merlander smiled slyly and then said to Sig, "I would love to get him back before he gets me somehow. For good old times sake."

Sig laughed and said, "I was never good at practical joking. But it would be funny to do it to Kleiver. But right now we have a mission. A big hoard of Marauders is attacking Spargus, and Damas wants any man or woman to go out there and stop them by any means possible. We could use you out there."

"Let me get my money," Merlander said quickly to Sig. "I'll met you at the garage in a sec." Sig nodded and ran out of the tavern as Merlander leaned over the bar table to the bartender that was cleaning up the place. "How much do I get for this?" he asked him while pointing behind him.

The bartender lifted his head and looked at the floor of the bar with surprise. It was spotless for the first time in years! He looked up to Merlander and said slowly, "A lot." Merlander smiled.

A/N: I wanted to give you readers a long first chapter. I'm sorry if it seemed boring, but it will pick up in the next chapter. I just had to set the mood for this chapter so the next one could get some more action. I hope you liked it! Please give a review!


	2. Chapter 2 One Minute

A/N: I got some pretty good reviews for my first chapter, and this made me a very happy girl! It looks like this fic went off with a bang. I've just been so busy this Christmas that it has taken forever to actually get onto my computer and find time to type. Well, here is your second chapter. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: You have to ride the short bus if you think I own anything that clearly is Jak and Daxter because it is clearly Naughty Dog's creation.

Chapter 2 One Minute

Tuya slowly led the three through the Slums of Haven City with what confidence she could muster. She didn't know the city all too well, so she hoped with all her heart that she didn't get them all lost. She didn't want to think of the consequences if she made that mistake. Kor would kill her for it.

"You do know where we are going, right?" Roxie asked Tuya as she read a flash of the girl's thoughts. She still hadn't told Tuya or Jak that she was a Mind Speaker, but Daxter was bound to tell his friend this sometime soon, or she would have to tell Jak if she hung out with him a lot later on.

"Yes," Tuya said quickly behind her shoulder. She bit her lower lip while looking forward. She forced herself to think straight and not get into her old habit of freaking out over small things. This let her remember the city more clearly, and she quickly found the dead end that led to the secret Underground Hideout.

Torn was already there with Tess. They were chatting quietly, but quickly stopped when seeing Tuya with the others behind her. Tess shot both Torn and her friend a questionable look then put on a frown on her face when she saw Torn's eyes narrow at the others.

"We're looking for Torn," Jak said while lightly pushing Tuya to the side to talk to the Elf. Tuya hung her head in silence at the sharp look Torn gave her. "She didn't send us, if that's what you're thinking," Jak covered for the Human girl. "Kor did." Torn gave Jak a nasty look while still keeping silent. He was summing up the young Elf. He would be a good addition to the Underground.

"Are you…Torn?" Jak asked the Elf with some hesitation in his voice and actions. Roxie knew that her dad worked for the Underground. It had been so long ago that she had seen this Elf before, so she wasn't sure if this was Torn or not. But she would have some heck of a time getting into this team.

"Maybe he's a mute," Daxter piped in at last. Right away Torn didn't like the creature. He just didn't like animals it seemed. "Like you used to be, Jak," Daxter finished with a shrug.

"New members make me nervous," Torn finally said while stepping back from the three. "If you want to go join something, you and your pet, here, can go join the circus," he said. He smiled slyly at the dirty look Daxter gave him.

"We want to join the Underground," Roxie butted in while pushing Jak aside. "I know you need new members. We are fit for it too. Let us join." What was she doing? Did she really want to join the Underground like her dad? She sure would go far to do her friends a favor.

"Go take down the Baron's banner in Dead Town," Torn said. He took out a dagger from a strap behind him and threw it into the air skillfully just to see how the young ones would react. He caught it while it fell and smiled down at them. Only the orange one looked a bit freaked out from his move. "I'll then consider letting you join," he said.

"Can I go?" Tuya jumped in. There was silence in the alleyway for a few seconds as Torn registered in his head what she had just said. For the first time in his life he couldn't form any words in his mouth. He was just stuck there with nothing to say. She had caught him off guard somehow.

"No," was his only and stubborn answer.

"Why not?" Daxter asked. This surprised Jak a little because he was all ready to go and do this simple task. Why was Daxter putting up a fight for this girl that clearly looked like she had no skills in fighting or defending herself if the time came? Sure, her looks were breathtaking, but Jak didn't want to catch fainting girls if he had to get into danger. And the Elf had a good feeling they were going to see life threatening situations in due time.

"She can't go," Torn repeated firmly. "She doesn't even know this language enough to understand a command you might give her. She will only be in the way."

This seemed to tick Tuya off. "Merlander teach me," she said while pulling her deadly boomerang out of its holder on her thigh. "I whack you're head off now," she muttered at him in rough Elfish while threatening to hit him with her sharp weapon. Tess almost let out a giggle at the stunned look Torn gave Tuya.

"Fine," Torn gave up finally. "I don't care anymore. Just take you're pet, Tuya." He opened the door to the hideout, and out came the muse in a hyper mass of fur. It ran around Torn's legs about five times till it got bored and ran over to sniff Jak whose smell was all new to him.

"Haven't seen one of these in a while," Jak mumbled while stepping back in surprise. Mozart then started to run around Jak's legs as well with little chirps and meows of delight of a new friend. Tuya picked up her pet with her cheeks turning a light pink as she muttered a sorry.

"Its fine," Jak said with a warm smile. They started to walk away and Jak finally asked randomly, "Uh, guys, where is Dead Town?"

Roxie and Daxter laughed at him. "Boy, you have lot's to learn," Daxter said to his friend. "You might need a tour of your new home."

- Bo -

"Ready, set, go!" Bo yelled to Flash. The kid was gone in a blue spark. The Human girl smiled from where she was standing on a rock in the Pumping Station. She looked over the ocean and watched silently as Flash zipped over the water's surface. "Come on," she whispered while looking at her stop watch in her hand.

Flash kept running at his top speed. At the speed he was going, he could run on top of water easily. The only problem was that he couldn't keep up that speed and couldn't even go for a minute yet. He would get worn out and lose power. One time he shorted out in a way and was left with no blue eco in his system for hours. It was very difficult for the kid. But he and Bo were determined to pass the minute time limit.

The kid was growing up quickly. He wasn't his over hyperactive annoying kiddish self that he used to be. He was becoming more mature, somewhat, and he was trying his best to calm down and control his blue eco powers. He had decided that if he was going to get stuck with these powers, he might as well as understand them and take hold of them. When Roxie and Daxter had first seen him he was ten in Human years, but that was two years ago. He was now 12 in Human years and very close to being a teen. Not quite there, though.

"Keep going, Flash!" Bo yelled over to him. "Hang on for 20 more seconds! You can do it!" She was proud of the Elf. They had been practicing this for two weeks now. At first they really had no reason to do it, but Flash wanted it, so she had helped him time himself. But now they had a reason.

Bo had calculated it out that if he ran this fast for at least one minute, he would be able to go over the ocean and right to the Wasteland city, Spargus, which sat right next to the ocean. If Flash could make it past a minute, he could go to Spargus and send Merlander messages. They both loved that idea, so now they were trying to make that time.

Flash was now feeling his energy flow out of him. He wouldn't be able to go this speed for much longer. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his blue eco left in him. He heard Bo call out to him that he had ten seconds left. He had to make it!

Water splashed into the air where Flash went back and forth close to Bo's rock. Blue lightening flashes flew up behind him. The kid was only a blur in Bo's vision.

Bo smiled widely when she started to slowly count down from five. She yelled at the top of her lungs out to Flash, "You made it! One minute! You did it!" Flash smiled faintly as he kept on running. Bo stopped jumping up and down from joy and excitement and stared in shock as she saw Flash keep going even though he was past his time limit.

"A minute and ten seconds!" Bo called out to him with surprise in her voice. "Stop before you hurt yourself or short out, Flash! What are you trying to do?"

Flash didn't answer. He just wanted to put on those extra few seconds to make sure he could absolutely make it if he went out to Spargus. Now he knew for sure he could do it and was proud of himself. But that happy feeling was short lived when his powers totally shut down on him like the day before.

It was a scary feeling. Everything in him stopped on a dime. A sharp yell of surprise sounded from the Elf as he fell into the water with a loud crash. Water was thrown high into the air because the fall was after he was going a tremendous speed. The salt water of the ocean pored into Flash's mouth as the air was knocked out of him from the hard impact.

"Flash!" Bo yelled his name in fright. "Please be okay!" She was useless as to helping him. Underwater Metal Heads lived in these waters. The last time Flash shorted out, there had been none around. But today could be different. She didn't want to risk it.

Flash swam to the surface and coughed a few times with a wince. He waved over to Bo to tell her he was fine. "Get out of there! Metal Heads could be in the water!" he could faintly hear her yell to him.

"Yes, mother!" he yelled back sarcastically. He saw her fold her arms in front of her as her silent anger was released. Flash laughed at her predictable actions and then started to slowly swim to the shore. He was tired and very worn out from his run. Having no blue eco abilities was a hard and different experience for him. He was just so used to being able to be going at a fast pace which seemed to be normal for him. Everyone else was the ones going slow. With no powers, he could see the world in their eyes. It made him think deeply the last time.

Suddenly a hard, metal hand clamped down onto Flash's ankle. The kid gave a yell of fright right before he was pulled into the water once again. Flash held his breath before going under. He fought for his freedom as he descended rapidly by hitting and kicking the metal tentacle of the squid like Metal Head holding onto him.

Bo was up in a second. Her jacket was off along with her shoes. She dived gracefully into the water as if she was mermaid. She swam out to where she last saw Flash and then took a deep breath before submerging. Her long, red hair floated around her head when she hovered in the water to spot where her friend had gone to. Her eyes stung profusely as she searched for him, but she ignored the pain.

The air in Flash's lungs was almost out and now his body was screaming for something he used to have so much of. The boy opened his eyes in the water and almost wished he hadn't, but he kept them open to see if there was an opening where he could escape.

Bo took out her Bo Staff and whacked it down onto the metal arm of the creature. The Metal Head wasn't affected by it and kept his hold onto Flash's ankle. Once the boy died of downing he would be a perfect snack for it.

Flash shook his head at Bo for her stupidity. He pointed to her knife on her belt and then motioned for her to stab the creature. Bo had a better idea. She took the knife out and made a tiny cut on the palm of her left hand. She then grabbed the tentacle holding Flash. The boy watched her in confusion. What was she doing? Humans were so weird.

He got his answer when the metal on the tentacle started to burn off it. Flash's bright, blue eyes widened in shock till he was free from the creature's grip. Bo swam down to the bottom of the ocean with determination flowing in her. Flash followed her with loyal confusion. The wounded and angry Metal Head was knocked off guard when seeing the two go the opposite way they should have gone, so his attack was off by a few seconds. Those seconds were all Bo needed.

_Please let this work!_ She pleaded in her head while putting both palms of her hands on the ocean floor. Nothing happened. _The payment is not enough! NO! I should already have enough payment with all the pain of my past! Why can't I exchange it with that?_

Her frustrated thought triggered the memory of Akki dying. She cringed as the remembrance gave her too many unwanted emotions. Then something she didn't expect happened. The floor under her palms rose quickly. Both Bo and Flash were pushed to the surface and gasped for breath once the rock under them stopped rising.

"How…how did you do that?" Flash asked her weakly. They both were lying on the rock pedestal gasping for long awaited precious air. Flash gave her a funny, curious look with his usual mischievous smile playing on the corners of his lips.

"I've done alchemy a few times before," Bo said faintly. "But it only worked when I drew blood because I thought that was the only way I could have equal payment."

"That little cut couldn't have been enough to move earth like you just did," Flash stated the obvious.

"Yeah, I know. It wasn't," Bo said. "But I thought of Akki dying and suddenly it moved like this. Maybe if I remember a past pain I can use it as payment."

Flash gave a small chuckle and said, "You are making no sense to me. Humans are so complicated."

"Complicated?" Bo asked him with a hint of anger in her voice. "Explain."

"Um…" Flash said while fumbling for words.

- ? -

The dark man silently watched the fight unfold before him. His hard, brown eyes took in every move and mistake both sides made. The Marauders fought ruthlessly, but it was clear to the man who was the good drivers, which were the Elves of Spargus.

The doors to the fortress opened up and out came a few more vehicles to join in on the fight against the enemy attacking their city. The man on the cliff spotted one dun buggy ridding towards him. He kept watching the fight with little curiosity in his eyes.

The lone vehicle gained ground quickly, and in seconds, was roaring past the man. The guy didn't flinch or even blink as he almost got run over. He kept his hands in the pockets of his black trench coat that flapped behind him in the wind.

The dun buggy stopped behind the mystery man. "Yes?" the man asked the driver behind him. "You called."

The driver jumped out of his seat and gracefully landed on the sandy rock next to his vehicle. He stood up straight and tall while pulling his hood off his head. His sharp, violet eyes landed on the man before him. He walked up next to him and looked at the event going on a few miles away with as much interest as if it was a fly.

"Him," the Elf finally said while pointing to a dun buggy that just took out another vehicle that had belonged to a Marauder.

"Him?" the other man asked with some small surprise in his voice. "He is a teen. Useless and boring to kill."

"I want him alive," the driver said simply.

"That's new," the man stated.

"I'll give you a day, Marek. Do you need more time?"

"No," Marek answered calmly. "This will be fairly easy." There was some silence as only the faint sound of machine guns and rockets sounded from the battle far away from the two men. "He's a good driver," Marek pointed out.

"Yes," the Elf said with a nod. "He should be." More silence between the two. "I expect a lot from you because you're Human," the man finally said while pulling his hood back on. "Don't disappoint me."

"When have I ever let you down, Marcus? You will see the young boy at your door step alive and well tomorrow," Marek said. "Don't forget the money."

"I won't," the Elf said before climbing back into his vehicle. He started up his dun buggy and right before riding off into the night he said to Marek with a sly smile, "Remember. Alive."

"We'll see," Marek muttered as he kept his eyes pinned on the battle. He frowned deeply as the dun buggy drove away behind him. He stayed there in the same position till he couldn't hear the vehicle anymore. "Well kid," the Human muttered to himself. "You must be of some importance to Marcus if he wants you alive."

Marek let himself express a hint of a smile as he started to casually walk down the sand bank with his hands still in his pockets. The whole time he watched the battle with unwavering eyes. He then looked to the doors off to the side. It was the main entrance into the city. It would be his ticket in.

The man took out a cigarette from his trench coat pocket along with an old Earth lighter. He lit the cigarette with a small flick of his thumb then put the lighter away. He blew a small smoke ring into the dark air as he kept walking.

"Too easy."

A/N: Sorry if the chapter is kind of short. I'm sure this fic will pick up on the next chapter. I just spent a lot of time on my Teen Titan fic and didn't have a lot of time to do this fic. I hope this was enough of a cliffhanger to keep you guys coming back for more to read. The next chapter will be up on New Years day! It will be my first update of the year! Merry Christmas everyone! Please give a review! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3 The Target

A/N: You readers are just too smart for me. Marek is after Merlander, but the reason why will not be clear till a few chapters later on. I have one question to ask you guys. Do you want split chapters like I've been doing, or do you want one chapter focused on the ones in Haven City then the next chapter just on the ones in Spargus? Till I get a clear answer I'll do what I've been doing before. Here is your chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Jak and Daxter. How many times do I have say this?

Chapter 3 The Target

"Does anyone know where this valve is?" Daxter asked Roxie and Jak as they slowly walked toward the doors to the Pumping Station. Daxter's voice sounded like he had gulped down a whole bunch of helium because he was squeezing his nose shut from the rancid smell all around them.

Both Jak and Roxie shrugged in union and Daxter shook his head in frustration. They had just gotten into the Underground and they were clueless like always. Roxie was just grateful that Torn hadn't recognized her, because if he did he would have never let her into the group.

"We had to map out this whole place, Dax," Roxie said with a smile. "We should be able to find it pretty quickly."

"Yeah, but if you remember, you got us lost when fighting some Metal Heads and blew up a whole sand bank by doing so," Daxter said and Roxie smiled proudly at the memory. Jak gave a small chuckle even though he didn't have any idea what they were talking about. "Moddy wasn't too happy with you after that," Daxter added with a small smile.

"He never liked me," Roxie said and Daxter nodded.

"Who's Moddy?" Jak asked them with confusion sweeping over his face.

"His real name is Mod," Roxie explained. "We used to work for him and mapped out places for money. He's always grumpy, but he has a wild side to him. He even let us break into the Palace one time."

"You guys were map makers?" Jak asked both of them with a laugh of disbelief.

"Hey! We were cool map makers!" Roxie said loudly to him. "Don't make fun of us!"

"Oh, sorry," Jak said sarcastically while smiling wickedly at Daxter when the animal avoided all eye contact with his old friend from his embarrassment. "I bet you guys were great at the job," Jak said sarcastically again while he kept watching Daxter on his shoulder.

"Shut up," Daxter muttered finally while scratching the back of his neck. "How 'bout we change the subject? Got any good ones?"

"Oh! How 'bout this one?" Roxie said while raising her hand as if she was in the middle of class. Jak and Daxter exchanged weird glances as they watched the girl hop up and down in the happiness of her bright idea.

"You hung you with her for how long?" Jak asked Daxter. The animal didn't answer. He was looking like an idiot again. When he was with Roxie he had been considered the smart one.

"Sense I'm going to be hanging out with both of you a lot in the future," Roxie said in a rush. "I think that I need to tell Jak a few things about myself."

"Here we go," Daxter muttered and Jak smiled slightly.

"Jak, you already noticed that I'm a green eco freak from that fight a few hours ago," Roxie said. "But did you know that I'm a Mind Speaker?"

Jak stopped in his tracks while starring at the girl. "You…you're the girl in the cell next to me," he said in disbelief. "You're the one who could read my thoughts. I thought the Baron killed you!"

"That was you the whole time?" Roxie asked him with surprise in her voice. "It was almost impossible to read you're mind because of…the dark eco in your body! It never dawned on me till now." They both laughed at the irony of the situation.

Daxter looked back and forth between the two with confusion sweeping over his face. "Okay, you guys knew each other before?" he asked them. "How?"

"Roxie was put into a cell next to mine for a few hours," Jak said.

"And sense he was mute, I talked to him through his thoughts," Roxie added with a smile.

"Freaky," Daxter muttered as they stopped at the big, metal door that lead into the Pumping Station. The thing unlocked a few latches and finally swung open for them to come in the small, empty room. They waited for a few seconds till the next door opened for them. The first thing they heard was a loud scream.

"Get back here, you little twit!" Bo yelled at Flash while running after him with her Bo Staff raised above her head. "You are so prejudice against Humans! Maybe if I whack your head a little bit some sense could be knocked into that brain of yours!"

"Whoa, slow down!" Flash yelled back at her over his shoulder. The two were going around each other on the beach next to the Haven City doors. "I don't even know what prejudice is! I didn't mean to say that." The kid was having trouble staying away from the Human because all his powers were gone for the time being. Sand flew into the air every time one of them switched directions to run or when Bo swung her Staff around to try to hit him.

"Why doesn't the kid just use his blue eco powers?" Daxter asked out loud. "He's going to get hurt from the crazy Human at this rate."

"You know a lot of people in this city, don't you?" Jak asked Daxter. Roxie and Daxter nodded while walking out onto the beach and toward the fight before them. "And how many people in this city had eco powers, Dax?" Jak decided to add at the end.

"Just a handful," Daxter said with a shrug.

"Hey! Bo, what are you doing?" Roxie yelled at the Human and kid sharply. Bo stopped in surprise at the sudden visitors as Flash darted for protection from her. He climbed up onto a rock with a look of panic on his face as he watched Bo carefully from his high point.

"Nothing," Bo said with a sweet smile. She hid the Staff she was holding behind her back before asking, "Who's the new guy?"

"She thinks I'm against Humans!" Flash piped up suddenly while pointing at the girl from above them all. "All I said was that Humans were crazy like what most people say because it's true. Does anyone disagree?"

"I've only known a few Humans in my lifetime," Jak said with a small grin. "They aren't that bad."

"In the country they aren't," Daxter murmured to him. "In the city it's a whole different story." Roxie nodded to back her friend up. Jak gave them another confused look. Being in that Fort for two whole years really threw him out of the loop. He didn't know if he was ever going to be able to get back into the routine of things. So far Roxie and Daxter were good teachers and didn't mind his stupidity of some of the things he asked about.

"Okay, name one thing she has done that is weird or crazy," Jak said to give the Human some support. Bo put away her weapon and folded her hands in front of her with a small frown planted on her face. Her cold stare just dared the two to say anything against her. It would the last thing they would say because she became pretty touchy when someone said something about her race.

"Um…" Daxter and Roxie said in union as they pretended to not be able to come up with anything even though they could go on for days about her weirdness. Roxie looked to the polluted sky while Daxter looked to the sandy ground while scratching his neck. Jak looked at his two friends while shaking his head.

"Cowards!" Flash yelled down at them. "How about when she moves elements by just putting her hands on them? Does that count as one?"

"Oh! Her alchemy!" Daxter said as the memory of the Human doing it a few weeks ago came back into his head. "That's just cool! But it's also kind of crazy."

"Um…Daxter, is that another one of your strange new friends that I haven't met?" Jak asked him while pointing up toward Flash with his eyes wide in fright. "If he is, then I want to protest about this one."

"Huh?" Daxter asked while looking up to Flash with deep confusion on his face. His puzzlement quickly turned into panic while spotting the blood thirsty Metal Head slowly sneaking up on Flash. "Kid! Move!"

Flash turned around and his sparkling, blue eyes widened when seeing the beast. A look of pure fright came to his face as he realized that he still didn't have his powers back, so he was defenseless against the hungry Metal Head coming at him. He wasn't going to be able out run this problem.

- Marek -

The kid was an interesting one. He carried himself in a much mature way than most his age. But he was still a stupid teen that thought they knew so much even though they were barely scratching the surface. As a Human, you never had time for a childhood or teen hood. You're brain was just too advanced for the Elves your age, and there was no other Human around your area you could hang out with. So you went from toddler to adult in only a few years.

But Marek didn't envy any of the Elves. That emotion was useless and non-productive. Instead he kind of pitied all of them. They could look so stupid in the eyes of Humans sometimes. But they ruled the planet the Humans were now on, so the Humans usually didn't make fun of them. Instead they were kind of labeled as crazy and strange. But Marek would have to agree with them. He _was_ odd.

Marek quickly learned a lot about his target. His name was Merlander and he was new to Spargus, but he somehow knew the city already. He must have been in Spargus once before, maybe as a little kid. But what kept Marek at least a little interested in him was why he was banished out here. He was too young to do so much harm in Haven City, and he looked a little innocent because of that age. But maybe he was underestimating his target. Maybe he really was capable of murder if pushed into that direction.

The Human stayed in the shadows of the small city as he followed his target from the point he got off his dun buggy after winning the battle outside of Spargus, all the way till he bumped into what seemed to be an old time rival. But he knew the Elf that was now shoving his target around.

"Kleiver, what are you doing messing with my target?" the Human voiced his question out loud. He gave a small chuckle while shaking his head. He watched as he saw his target take the insults and rough shoving for a while. Marek noticed that the boy took everything in with a small smile on his face, which only made Kleiver madder than a hornet. It almost made the Human laugh at how the older Elf was acting more childish than the teen.

Too bad all good things had to come to an end. Marek blew his last smoke ring then flicked his cigarette away as he slowly walked up to the two with both hands in his pockets and his face emotionless just like he liked it. At first no one noticed that he was there, till the target glanced behind Kleiver with a look of confusion on his face. Kleiver noticed this look and turned around.

"Stand aside, I'm not here for you," Marek said to him sternly when noticing the bit of fright on the Elf's face. The Elf was getting older and had been in Spargus sense he was just a teen. He knew everyone who lived around him, including the record of everyone Marek had either killed or captured.

"Who would want the pipsqueak?" Kleiver asked Marek while stepping off to the side. The target backed up cautiously with more confusion sweeping over his face. But he quickly got out it.

"Don't tell me Damus put up police guys to make sure there is no pushing or shoving going around in his city," the target said cockily to Kleiver while flashing Marek and the Elf a confident smile.

"You're not going to…" Kleiver started but stopped when seeing the target back up some more because he was catching on to the situation here.

"Not my orders," Marek said. He suddenly pulled out a small can of something from his coat pocket and shoved it into his target's face and sprayed the blue stuff before the boy could protest against it. It was so fast that Kleiver barely had time to see it.

"Uh…what was that stuff?" the target asked them slowly as his body started to react to the chemicals of the spray rather quickly. "This can't be good," the target muttered right before his body was forced into passing out. Marek silently caught the teen with one arm and took out a pistol from his other pocket and aimed it at Kleiver.

"Hey!" Kleiver yelled at him as he put his hands up to defend himself. "I might not like the kid, but Merlander is pretty close to Sig. Sure you want to take him?"

"It could make it more interesting," Marek said emotionlessly. "Just tell our old time friend that I have to deliver the target in 24 hours, and that if I have to, I'll kill anyone who gets in the way." Marek knew these two Elves when he was younger. They were pretty close to being something like friends when he lived in Haven City. But Marek would never say that they were close enough to not kill if he was ordered to. But sometimes when they met they would go out for a drink and talk about what was going on in their lives as if to pretend they were still friends. But Marek would just rather say Kleiver and Sig were only acquaintances. It sounded better in his ears.

"Now put down the gun, Marek," Kleiver said nervously. He knew that the Human wouldn't hesitate to shoot at any time. Marek stared up at him blankly as if the Elf was dumb, which he was in the Human's eyes all the time. "Okay, keep it there if you want to," Kleiver muttered. "I ask you again, who wants the punk?"

"Curiosity killed the cat," Marek said while turning around and looking for a leaper lizard. He found one and threw the limp body of Merlander onto it and swiftly slid into the saddle with the pistol still pointing at the Elf. "Keys," he said sharply.

"But I just bought the vehicle," Kleiver complained. "Why can't you just hot wire one and not force me to give you mine?"

He seemed to forget he was looking down the barrel of a pistol and his brains could be blown out of his skull at the pull of the trigger. Marek tried to prevent himself from rolling his eyes at the stupidity of Kleiver sometimes. Sure, he was big, strong, and very intimidating to most, but sometimes he could just be so dense. It annoyed the Human.

"I don't like being redundant," Marek said down to him, and this seemed to reminded the Elf.

"You can be so cold in assassin mode, Marek," Kleiver muttered to his old friend. He started to search for his keys while saying, "Do you have _any_ morals?"

"I don't care about your needs," Marek said down to him while taking the keys from his out stretched hand. "All I care about is the thrill and the money. This prize is really for the money. Too easy."

"What about woman?" Kleiver asked him with a sly smile coming to his lips.

"What about them?" Marek asked him coldly as his eyes narrowed sharply down at the Elf. This only made Kleiver look like a complete fool. "Love and lust is only a chemical released into the body that has no productive out put, useless."

"You're not humane anymore, Marek," Kleiver told him with some anger in his voice.

"Only when I'm at work," Marek said quietly. He then kicked his animal into gear and rode away without any exchange of goodbyes. He quickly made his way to the room that stored all the dun buggies and found the one that belonged to Kleiver and now belonged to him. He tied his target's legs and wrists together with a rope and put him beside him in the seat next to thedriver's seat. He was then off and blasted into the desert, on his way to the Marauder City.

- Merlander -

He awoke with his head spinning and exploding with a massive migraine. He opened his eyes and gasped in surprise at his surroundings. He shot up into a sitting position with his violet eyes flashing blue with fright. But he had control over most of his eco powers, and the only way you knew he had them was his eye color.

The untamed wind blew softly over his body as he saw that he was out in the open with sand surrounding him and spreading out in all directions. A fire was right in front of him, and the teen could feel the heat waves wash over his cold body. The wasteland at night could get pretty cold. Merlander looked down at his hands and feet and saw that he was tied up. At first there was confusion, but then the past events came to him.

Merlander suddenly felt a presence beside him and looked up to see his kidnapper standing there watching him with cold, emotionless eyes. The teen shifted in the sand under him at this stare and finally looked back to the fire with a frustrated sigh. Someone just had to be against him.

The kidnapper bent down and silently gave Merlander a bowl of some soup he had made. He then stood by the fire with his eyes still pinned on the boy. It was nerve racking for Merlander. He shifted one more time while looking at his food. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Who are you?" he asked the man sharply. It was at this time that he noticed that the man was a Human, just like Bo. He was dealing with someone whose intelligence level was ten times above his own. So whoever sent this guy to kidnap him had meant business.

"Just eat," the man said.

"How can I when you keep staring at me like that?" Merlander asked him with his eyes narrowed. "It's going to creep me out!"

"Do you know why you're in this predicament, child?" the man asked him suddenly with sharpness in his voice.

Merlander looked down and mumbled, "Not exactly. I bet you know more about that matter than what I do." This guy kind of reminded him of Simon. One word could describe the dude, creepy. The teen shrugged off the unwanted feeling and took a long sip from his soup. It tasted wonderful, as strange as it sounded.

The man chose to stay silent, but he kept staring at Merlander with wonder in his eyes. Merlander noticed this and asked, "Is there something on my face or what? What are you looking at?"

"Does your mom have violet eyes as well?" the mystery man asked randomly.

"No," Merlander answered hesitantly. "I guess my dad did, but I never knew him. Is this a trick question?"

"Interesting," the man said while now navigating his stare to the fire crackling before him.

Merlander gulped down the rest of his soup while keeping his eyes on the man. When he was finished, he flung the bowl over his head and then threw it at the Human with no warning whatsoever. His body burst into yellow flames as he thought of any angry memory just like Simon had taught him a few months back. Did he miss his old teacher? Hell no!

The man ducked, and the bowl soared over his head. He turned around to see Merlander use his eco power with a small smile spreading across his face. The teen held one big fireball in both hands and was ready to throw it at the Human when the time came.

"Impressive," the man said with a nod. He swiftly took out a knife and said, "This should be amusing."

"Where do these weapons come from?" Merlander asked him then threw the fireball at him. He threw three more because he expected the guy to dodge the first. But the Human easily ducked and jumped out of the way of all of them and advanced toward Merlander at surprising speed.

Merlander thought of anything scary and was suddenly zipping around the camp site in an out of control manner. He hadn't really used blue eco a lot and wasn't too used to it. He always wondered how Flash could live with it all the time. He finally gave up on the eco power and stopped a few yards away from the man.

The teen gave a sharp yell right when stopping as a dagger barely missed his head. The Human was on him in seconds with a speed and skill that almost none could master. Merlander quickly found himself pinned down in the sand with a knife at his throat and the man on his back.

"That wasn't too productive," Merlander muttered after he was done with the shock. "All I did was make myself look like an idiot."

"I'll second that," the kidnapper said smugly from where he sat on top of he boy. "Now, I think I'll lay down the rules right now, seeing as you're paying more attention." Merlander glared up at him and started to struggle in his painful hold. He stopped when feeling the cool blade touch his neck. This man meant business.

"Great, rules!" Merlander said sarcastically. "I was paying enough attention before I attacked, though."

"One, enough with the pathetic, sarcastic comments about everything," the man said sternly down to him. "Two, I had orders not to kill you, but that doesn't mean I have to go by them. Three, you do what I say when I say it with no questions. And lastly, no complaining."

"What's the punishment if I break one of these?" Merlander asked him with a grunt as the weight of the man on top of him was now crushing his chest.

"I could knock you out, or you could end up with a one way ticket to heaven or hell, it depends on my mood," the man said with a small smile. He was kind of enjoying himself. He started to press the flat part of his blade against the teen's exposed neck and saw Merlander give a small shiver as he glared up at him to make him stop.

"Yeah, welcome to the Wasteland," Merlander muttered with a sigh.

"You just broke rule one and two," the Human stated emotionlessly to the Elf. "Time to learn how serious I can be." Before Merlander could comprehend his mistake, the man had brought down the butt of his blade onto the teen's head violently. In one blow, the teen was out cold.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. And I do know that I said it would be out on the first of January, but I kind of got writer's block and just that night I typed for two whole hours to get it done and out of the way. The first part must have sucked, but I had to pass through my writer's block sometime. Hoped you liked it. And you guys are all free to yell at me in a review for not making my due date. Go ahead and give me your worst. But please give a review! Thanks! You readers are awesome.


	4. Chapter 4 Crystal Giveaway

A/N: Sorry if this chapter got out later than I wanted it to be. I was on a weekend retreat with my church's youth group and got back on Sunday. Of course, my English teacher gave me a butt load of homework for the weekend. I then had a Peru trip for a week and when I got back I had to make up a lot of tests and junk. But now I'm okay and updates should be back on track. Thank you for waiting it out so long!

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters from Jak2 or Jak3.

Chapter 4 Crystal Giveaway

This was one of Flash's first times seeing a Metal Head up and close. He could clearly see the evil, black eyes of the creature as it sized his meal up with salvia dripping off its open jaw. The terrified kid was like a dear in head lights at first. His mind just kind of shut down and couldn't function properly. His whole body was frozen in shock. Someone had to snap the poor boy out of his deadly trance.

"Flash!" Bo yelled up at him. "Move!" That was all it took for the kid's head to kick back into gear and for him to act.

At that same moment, the Metal Head pounced from where it was crouched with a sharp growl. Flash let out a cry of alarm while rolling under it deftly. The kid scrambled to his feet right when the Metal Head realized his snack was outsmarting it and getting away. It lashed out with one of its razor sharp claws, but by then the others had come to Flash's rescue.

Bo was on the Metal Head in only a few seconds with her Bo Staff raised above her head. It came down sharply onto the creature, and the Metal Head cried out in pain of the powerful blow she had inflicted onto its side.

As the Metal Head tried to run away because he knew he was out numbed, Jak lashed out at it with a bone crunching punch that hit the Metal Head's gem stone in its forehead and made it fall out. Once the creature's brain and energy source was knocked violently out of its head, it was instantly dead and slumped clumsily to the sandy floor.

This whole time Flash watched everything in a daze. Even when the whole thing was over, the kid was still sitting on his butt in the sand. He was kind of mad at himself for not doing anything once again and letting the older ones help him out. He could have protected himself, but he was just so used to being considered unimportant in a battle and not old enough to get himself out of trouble.

The kid sat there looking helpless and confused while on the inside he was fighting a small battle. Why couldn't he just grow up and do things himself? Was he just not brave enough? That thought stood out like a sore thumb in his head swimming with many questions. He finally got a hold onto himself when a cool breeze brushed past him and made him shiver because he was still wet in some places. How long had he been sitting there looking stupid?

"Now, Jak," Daxter said suddenly from his friend's shoulder, "That was a Metal Head." Everyone besides Jak gave short laughs at the obvious statement the fuzz butt had made to the new Elf.

"I've seen them before," Jak muttered to himself as if in thought. Then something came to the Elf, and his eyes lit up as they widened before saying, "I have to help them!"

"Help who?" Roxie asked the question going through everyone's head.

"Tubal and Nea," Jak said in a rush and having a new found flow of excitement in his voice.

"Who?" both Roxie and Daxter asked with confused expressions on their faces. This whole time Bo was looking over Flash to see if he was okay. She didn't care too much about the conversation now going on a few feet away from her. But she still listened to bits of it with some interest somewhere in her.

She cut right into Jak's very interesting explanation of his life and friends in the Fort he had been forced to stay at. "All very entertaining," Bo said loudly to the others to make them stop talking. "But Flash and I are heading back home. See you there, Roxie." She then yelled behind her shoulder, "Flash, we're leaving!"

"I know, I know!" Flash yelled back at her. "What are you? A freaking Krimson Guard?"

Bo suddenly grabbed Flash's wrist and started to drag him to the door heading back to Haven City with a cold look in her eyes. "I'll let that one slid, kid," she muttered back at him. Flash looked back to the other three with a small, yet sly smile. Roxie and Daxter returned the smile and watched him go silently.

Once the two were gone, Roxie turned to Jak and said, "They are now living with us. I think we have enough room for you to stay with us in my house. My parents won't mind as long as they don't know I'm working for the Underground. They think I'm too young."

Jak gave her a strange look. "But a lot of Elves your age are joining," he said. "Why would they have a problem with your age?"

Daxter looked away with a small sigh while Roxie scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah," she said with a nervous smile, "About that."

Jak gave a frustrated sigh while saying, "You're just full of surprises."

"I know," Roxie said with a cute smile. "But that's what makes me fun!"

- Merlander -

With a small groan, Merlander awakened a second time from being rudely knocked out. Things were not going his way in the past few hours. He forced his eyes open and looked around with confusion. He was in a dun buggy with the Human driving next to him, but he had no idea where they were heading. He thought that they would stay at that fire because someone wanted him from Spargus. Where else was there someone who wanted to kidnap him?

Merlander looked down and saw that his hands were tied up once again with a cord that was attached to the railing of the dun buggy at his side. He then looked over to the Human and had to squint through all the sand and wind blowing into his face. Usually when you were driving this fast you wore goggles or a mask to protect your eyes and face.

The kidnapper saw that he was awake and reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of goggles and held them up to Merlander as if knowing what he was thinking. The teen muttered a small thanks while taking them gratefully and putting them on. He kept silent for a while because he was trying to think of a plan of escape and other things going through his head. Sometimes he would glance over to the Human and realized that the man was doing the same thing a few times.

They rode on like this for around an hour in the mid afternoon. The sun bore down on the both of them relentlessly because at this time it was right overhead and very unkind to anyone stupid enough to come into the desert with no water or shade. But then the kidnapper suddenly stopped on top of a tall mount of sand that looked over down onto a small, muddy river.

Merlander looked over to him with confusion and asked, "Why did we stop?"

The Human said nothing as he pulled out some binoculars. He started to search the landscape with the same confusion on his face. "There is always at least one of them at this river," he muttered his thoughts out loud to himself. He stood up on his seat and looked around another time. Merlander watched him with much interest. He was looking to see if any danger was there.

Suddenly the ground under them started to shake as a loud booming sound started to come towards them. Merlander's eyes went wide as he got to his own two feet and stood on his seat. He looked behind them and saw it. He heard the Human curse as he saw it too. Both knew they were too late to prevent anything from happening.

The huge, mammoth sized Metal Head charged at full speed toward their dun buggy with a heart stopping roar piercing their ears and making the two cringe. Both sat back down on their seats and Merlander quickly buckled himself in with his hands shaking a little in panic. The Human strapped himself in with a sigh and didn't bother trying to drive away. The thing was going to hit them anyways. The best thing was to brace themselves.

The monster collided head first into the back of the dun buggy. The force sent the vehicle flying into the air. Merlander let out a small yell of fear while gripping the side bars. He watched hopelessly as the vehicle did a few flips in the air and headed toward the ground. Then they landed on the sandy floor and the force made both in the dun buggy to hit their heads on the dashboard. The thing rolled a few times till it finally came to a stop on all four wheels.

Both Human and Elf had to sit there to recoup from their fall for only a few seconds. They had a lot more danger in their near future, so both of their heads were quickly put back together and they were back in the game in no time. Metal Head one. Them zero. Round one wasn't their best, but they knew they were going to pull through at the end.

"Move!" Merlander yelled at his kidnapper while seeing the Metal Head coming up from behind them once again. The Human gave him a sharp glare, but didn't protest. He knew what he was doing. Merlander didn't have to tell him anything. They took off toward the river at full speed with the Metal Head on their tail.

At the very edge of the river, the Human sharply turned his steering wheel with his eyes flashing with determination. They started to spin in the direction he had turned and Merlander was roughly shoved into the side bars with a wince. The Metal Head flew past them and right into the water with a giant splash. When their dun buggy stopped, they were now facing the back of the animal and able to shoot at it.

The Human quickly realized that he had picked a vehicle that could only be worked in a hunt with two people, one to drive and the other to shoot because most Elves weren't skilled in both very well. Merlander caught onto this and didn't wait for permission to shoot the monster splashing in the water ungracefully. He gripped the joystick and narrowed his eyes before pressing down on the button on the top. His aim was perfect, and they quickly started to see the bullets rip into the leather skin of the Metal Head.

The river was muddy on the bottom, and the Metal Head quickly figured out that he was getting stuck in it and couldn't move away from the bullets sinking into him. It started to roar loudly in pain and anger while thrashing around wildly.

"Just die already!" Merlander yelled at the Metal Head and a few seconds afterwards, the thing finally fell over after a defeated bellow and died slowly in the river that was now his grave. Merlander stopped shooting and sat back in his seat with a relieved sigh. He looked over to the kidnapper who was watching him with some interest in his eyes. "You can thank me later," Merlander said cockily to him. "Let's move out of here before more come."

The Human gave a sigh while doing what Merlander had suggested. But the man didn't show any other emotion as they started to go down the bank of the river in search for a bridge. That was Merlander's best guess. He didn't say much. The only time Merlander had heard him speak was when he was fighting him the night before. All those questions vanished when he saw the small green patch with trees up ahead. They stopped beside the place and turned off the engine. All was quiet.

"Um…what are we doing here?" Merlander asked while watching the kidnapper jump out of his side and come over to Merlander's side. The Human untied the cord around the bar and tugged it a few times to get Merlander to see that he wanted him to follow him. Merlander gave a frustrated sigh while gracefully jumping out and landing on the odd patch of grass.

He then tied Merlander up to a tree and started to walk away. "Hey!" Merlander yelled at him with his aggravated emotion clearly being shown through his voice. He didn't have to say anymore when seeing the man walk back to him with two leaper lizards with saddles on their backs trudging behind him.

"Your friends are bound to catch up to us," the Human finally said quietly while randomly handing the teen a canteen filled with water. "For a disguise we will dress up as nomads. They will pass us that way."

Merlander pulled his dirty goggles off his head when spotting the canteen, and grabbed it out of his hand. "Sounds like a good plan," Merlander muttered before gulping down the liquid. He hadn't noticed how thirsty he had been till now. "I'm just glad you decided not to be mute for this whole trip. You can drive a lot of people insane by doing that, you know?"

The teen was a bit surprised to see the man give him a faint hint of a smile before saying, "Drink all of that. We aren't going to have any water till we get to the Marauder camp a few hours away." He watched the boy closely as the kid shrugged his shoulders and gulped down the last bit with no hesitation. Merlander was putting on the front that he didn't care much and was mellow with everything, but he was really freaking out on the inside. The wasteland was still hot; if they weren't careful they could get killed by it or from another Metal Head.

"Well, Humans are known to be crazy yet smart," Merlander said with a sigh. "I guess I'm going to have to trust my kidnapper…for now. You better not kill us."

"Good," the man said emotionlessly, "Because you're doing things my way till I deliver you to the person who wants you. And I don't care if you like it or not."

"You're just so charming," Merlander said sarcastically to him.

"I try," the Human responded expressionlessly.

- Vox -

"Long time, no see, Torn," Vox said almost cheerfully as he slowly walked down the steps of the Underground hideout. He gave his friend as small smile as Torn looked up from his work with a dazed look on his face. "Don't look so confused," Vox said while throwing a Human's soda to the leader. "We were planning on just sitting down and relaxing for a long time. Fridays are always good for me."

Torn caught the soda can with one hand gracefully. He looked at it distastefully and asked, "What happened to beer? What's with this soda crap that Humans like to drink?"

Vox gave Torn a small smile before answering weakly, "Meg made me stop once we had Roxie. She's been really strict about it lately because of our new one."

The sincere answer seemed to make Torn relax for once in his life as he leaned back in his seat. "I heard about that," he said with a carefree smile. "I bet you hope it's a boy."

"Hey, I love Roxie," Vox said with a small chuckle. "It's just that she's not at the house much anymore. She always had that crazy adventurous spirit in her."

"She's like, ten," Torn said with a sharp laugh. "She can't be gone that often."

Vox gave a small sigh before saying, "She's one of those eco people. She now has some pretty strong powers. I've only seen her use them a few times." He ran a hand through his jet-black hair with a long sigh. "I don't even want to know what she does with her powers."

"That's why I don't have kids," Torn said with a faint of a smile on his lips.

"What about Tuya, that new Human girl who suddenly appeared from nowhere?" Vox asked.

Torn looked at him sharply before saying, "She's just staying here because she has no where else to go."

"Yeah, sure," Vox said with a smug smile. "Where is she, by the way?"

"She's with the Shadow," Torn said. "Everyone is on a mission that will last them all night. You would have hade one, but I gave that simple mission to some newbies just fifteen minutes ago. They are good, so they will get that mission done sometime tonight. It might take them a while, though," he added slyly.

"You love to be evil, don't you," Vox asked him with a laugh. There was some hint of Torn's humorous side being shown here and it was rare to ever see it.

The two friends then started to share little things about their lives and quoted funny times over the past few months. They had only known each other for a year, but they were already good buds because their personalities were kind of the same. The only difference between them was that Vox was a husband and father of one and soon to be two kids. Vox had a family, Torn didn't want one.

After around an hour of talking, the door on top of the stairs swooshed open and in came the three new recruits to the Underground looking worn out and sweaty. The orange animal, Daxter, on the boy's shoulder looked a bit panicky while the one he was riding only looked confident. Vox was stunned beyond words when seeing the girl with them who was smiling big for their victory. It was Roxie!

"We have returned!" Daxter announced to Torn loudly. His nervous side had quickly vanished. "I think we did that in pretty good time." Torn only glared at the animal. He then noticed that Roxie and Vox were staring at each other. Vox looked mad while Roxie looked petrified. Everyone else in the room grew quiet while staring at the two, waiting for them to say something. The air was tense between the father and daughter.

Finally the dad spoke first. "What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted at Roxie with anger flowing in his voice and clearly being shown in his narrowed eyes boring down on her.

"I can explain!" Roxie piped up weakly.

"I don't want one!" Vox snapped back. "You know what, no more of this!"

"No more of what?" Roxie asked him. Her voice was rising a little and taking on the same angry tone of her father's.

"These friends," Vox said sharply. "I don't want you hanging out with people like this."

"What is the matter with them?" Roxie yelled in defense. "They are perfectly fine."

"Yeah," Daxter piped up with his eyes narrowing. Jak gave him a glare to shut up. Daxter getting into the fight wouldn't be too healthy. Jak just wondered why Roxie hadn't told him that she wasn't allowed to join the Underground or hang out with him. Now she was getting in trouble and her dad thought it was all because of her friends. She had wanted to do this. He hadn't heard any protest from her.

Vox gave a frustrated sigh while rubbing his forehead. He desperately wanted to go at this matter calmly, but he was having trouble with this. The only way to get his point across to his strong headed girl was to yell and do something drastic. He believed he had to punish her so she wouldn't do this kind of thing again.

"You're grounded!" he finally yelled after some silence. Roxie gasped over dramatically like the little kid she was underneath. A look of pure horror was on her face. She had never been grounded before and for most people it was not big deal, but for someone who spent all their life outside and around friends and people, it was pretty big. For a girl like Roxie it was like sitting in a cave for a month with no explosives or someone to talk to.

"And I want the rock back for the time being," Vox added. He then braced himself for the protest that was sure to come.

"WHAT?" Roxie yelled so loud that it made everyone in the room wince. "My _crystal_ is what keeps me in my teenage form all day long! You can't just take it away!"

The others in the room who weren't brave enough to step into the argument looked back over to Vox to see how he would react and handle the situation. Vox lifted his hand up and said quietly yet very sternly, "Give it to me, Roxie. Now."

Roxie's lower lip quivered when she knew she had to hand the green eco crystal over to her dad. As a Mind Speaker she could feel all his vibes wash over her body intensely. He was very upset with her, and deep down inside she really did want to keep him happy.

The teen Elf's slender fingers slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out the glowing stone that had been increasing her green eco powers for a few months. She paused before finally dropping it into her father's hand. In a flash of white light with green sparkles she was back to her mute kid self again.

"We're leaving," Vox said while grabbing her little hand and guiding the kid to the door of the Underground. "Keep the soda, Torn," he added over his shoulder. Roxie waved goodbye to her two, stunned friends before she was dragged out of the door.

There was a long, silent pause in the room as none of the Elves knew what to say next. When it got to be a little too uncomfortable, Torn broke it by saying as cheerfully as he could muster, "I'm guessing you two will be sleeping here tonight. Take a bunk."

"Um…thanks?" Jak answered dazedly

A/N: Sorry for boring chapter. Well, the part with the giant Metal Head was sort of fun to write. And I'm also sorry for not updating on the day I said I would! I made you wait two weeks after the due date! I deserve the worst for that act. Since its Valentine's Day, pelt me with candy hearts till I'm unconscious. Do whatever you wish to me in a review. I'm already working on the next chapter and I think I'll have it out maybe on the 17th or less time than that. It depends on the homework each week. So please give a review if you want. Thanks!


End file.
